Hamilton Tour tickets in US

The historical Hamilton writes of Jefferson’s arrogance and hatred of a central government.

Hamilton musical make national tour this year!

In France he saw government only on the side of its abuses. He came here probably with a too partial idea of his own powers and with the expectation of a greater share in the direction of our councils than he has in reality enjoyed. I am not sure that he had not peculiarly marked out for himself the department of the finances. He came electrified plus with attachment to France, and with the project of knitting together the two countries in the closest political bands.

James Madison greets him, eager for help. Madison was a very wealthy plantation owner who dressed like a par-son. He served in Congress during the war instead of the front lines. He’d never done manual labor. In fact, Madison had been Hamilton’s ally in the fight to ratify the new Constitution, but he and Thomas Jefferson came to prefer power for state governments. As early as 1792, Hamilton complained, “Mr. Madison cooperating with Mr. Jefferson is at the head of a faction decidedly hostile to me and my administration” (“Letter to Edward Canington”).

Miranda notes that this split occurs during the intermission. To pass the Constitution, Madison spoke at Virginia’s Ratifying Convention, countering Patrick Henry’s emotional rhetoric with logic and facts he and Hamilton had worked out. He also vowed to balance the Constitution with the Bill of Rights, which he drafted (a point Madison quickly interjects in “Washington on Your Side”). Madison was soon elected to Congress. However, once there, Madison led Congress’s unsuccessful attempt to block Hamilton’s national bank and other Federalist projects. He went on to be the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Ironically, during the War of 1812, he had difficulty because of the weak national army and bank, so after, he came closer to Hamilton’s point of view.